Hotfix Fixes Squad Joining Failures and Temporarily Raises Distinguished Service Rewards

This hotfix reworks squad handling to fix join failures, corrects zombie spawning and cosmetic bugs, and temporarily raises Distinguished Service rewards.

What changed

• Base Retirement XP: 250 to 300
• Rescue Beacon bonus: 250 to 300
• Medals: Bronze 10 to 15, Silver 25 to 40, Gold 50 to 60
• Expert Perk bonus: 10 to 15

Networking and Squads

• Fixed various issues where some players could not join squads under specific networking conditions.
• Fixed the instant kick from a friend's squad.
• The team asks players to report any new issues.

Zombies and Spawning

• Fixed infinite spawning scenarios that produced fewer zombies than intended, mainly on Hard and Nightmare difficulties of Objective maps.
• Fixed zombies turning invisible after nonlethal explosive damage.
• Fixed missing head gore and textures on runner zombies after death.

Social Menu and UI

• Fixed players getting stuck in the social menu in a private lobby.
• Fixed non-friends not showing in the recently played tab of the social menu.
• Fixed the Responder menu following players into other areas of the UI.

Lewiston

• Fixed players being able to respawn after extraction.
• Fixed unintended items spawning.

Cosmetics

• Fixed the Scarecrow Hood and Mask not being wearable together.
• Fixed the neck gaiter clipping into male Responder faces.
• Fixed the bowler hat and neck gaiter blocking their II variations.
• Fixed various mask and hat combinations that could not be applied.

Distinguished Service

• Base Retirement XP rose from 250 to 300, and the Rescue Beacon bonus rose from 250 to 300.
• Bronze Medal rose from 10 to 15, Silver Medal from 25 to 40, and Gold Medal from 50 to 60.
• Expert Perk bonus rose from 10 to 15.
• The developers say the system is currently missing player expectations for reward versus time investment.
• More details on Retirement and Dedicated Service are planned for a future blogpost.

Prior Live Fixes

• Added a repeat map protection system.
• Fixed lost cosmetic adjustments when an outfit used Light Utility Pants variation II.